Kelly Clarkson Kicks Off Las Vegas Residency 1 Week After Last-Minute Cancellation: ‘We Can’t Help Our Bodies Sometimes’

Kelly Clarkson and Las Vegas still have Chemistry, even if things were a little delayed.

The singer, 43, kicked off her latest residency in Sin City, her second in two years, on Friday, July 11.

While the evening’s concert at Caesars Palace’s Colosseum wasn’t initially intended to be the residency’s opening night, that’s exactly what happened, as Clarkson was forced to cancel two shows hours before the first was scheduled to kick off on Friday, July 4, to “protect” her voice.  

Addressing the cancellations early into the show on July 11, Clarkson told attendees, “I’m so sorry if some of y’all had last weekend’s shows. I’m so sorry. We can’t help our bodies sometimes if we get sick, and that happens.”

After taking a shot of tequila with an audience member, The Kelly Clarkson Show host added, “I’m celebrating because I had to cancel last weekend. I cried. I was so sick, it sucked. I’m so happy to be here.”

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In a last-minute Instagram message announcing the cancellation of her intended opening weekend on July 4, Clarkson said that “prep and rehearsals” had “taken a toll” on her vocal cords.

A source later told PEOPLE that the Grammy Award-winner “didn’t want to cancel any shows” and was “devastated.”

Dubbed Studio Sessions, Clarkson’s idea was to make the concert feel intimate, as if the crowd of thousands was a part of the music-making process.

Much of the bells and whistles commonly seen in Vegas shows were absent by design. Instead, Clarkson, donning a simple Stevie Nicks T-shirt and jeans for most of the show, was surrounded on stage by her band to mimic an actual day in a music studio.

She only changed into a fashionable dress for the encore, during which she exclaimed, “I’m a sweaty mother right now.”

Over the course of two hours, the “Since U Been Gone” singer gave lengthy introductions to deep cuts such as “Sober” and “Tight Rope,” and also performed hits like “Stronger” and “My Life Would Suck Without You.”

Clarkson also sang her latest single, “Where Have You Been,” and in a proverbial tip of the hat to Caesars Palace’s newest act, she also covered Dolly Parton.

During the show, Clarkson also slyly dropped news surrounding her massive music collection.

“I just sold my catalog, a percentage of it. It’s one of those things, and when I was doing that, it was so apparent to me that my catalog would not be my catalog without that man behind that piano. People have no idea,” she said, referring to to Jason Halbert, who’s been with the singer since her American Idol days.

Clarkson didn’t disclose how much of her catalog she sold, nor to whom.

Studio Sessions is Clarkson’s second Vegas show. It follows her 14-show Chemistry residency at Planet Hollywood, which took place in summer 2023.

Tickets to Kelly Clarkson: Studio Sessions — The Las Vegas Residency can be purchased here.